Although everyone from Wall Street to the ivy-covered halls of
academia knows it, now the numbers confirm it-1999 was a banner
year for venture capital. According to two reports in February
2000, venture capital amounts and the number of recipients both
significantly increased.

According to Price-waterhouse-Coopers annual Money Tree Survey,
4,006 companies (a 41 percent jump over 1998 figures) together
snagged $35.6 billion in VC financing. The other study, conducted
by Venture Economics, a division of Newark, New Jersey-based
research company Thomson Financial Securities Data, and the
National Venture Capital Association, reported that 3,649 firms (up
25.6 percent) together obtained $48.3 billion in investments.
Although the results differ, the reports agreed on the percentage
that industry activities increased over 1998-about 150 percent.

Venture Capital Chart

Venture capital by
region (in millions of dollars)

Region

1999

1998

% of increase

Northern
California

$16,902

$5,363

215.2

Northwest

$2,005

$647

210

Mid-Atlantic

$4,015

$1,430

180.8

Southeast

$3,666

$1,438

154.9

Southern
California

$3,908

$1,907

104.9

Venture capital by
industry (in millions of dollars)

Industry

1999

1998

% of increase

Internet-specific*

$18,757

$3,285

471

Communications

$8,366

$3,318

152.1

Computer
hardware

$1,309

$550

138.1

Semiconductor/electronics

$1,740

$827

110.4

Computer
software & services

$7,500

$3,833

95.7

Consumer-related

$1,712

$1084

58

*Includes companies that would'nt exist
without the Internet and don't fit into any other industry
sector.

Source: venture Economics and the National Venture Capital
Assocaition.